Overview: I will open this lesson with a Daily Question.The question is “What is fitness? What does it mean to be a fit individual?” The body of the lesson will contain an image of a big and strong animal and a smaller, weaker looking animal. The misconception being addressed in this lesson is the idea that just because an individual is large and physically stronger does not necessarily mean that the individual is "fit" in terms of evolution. The students will discuss which one they think is more likely to survive in the population. A video and power point on fitness and natural selection will be shown. Students will take guided notes on these concepts and will be given a natural selection worksheet as an exit slip/homework.
What misconception are you addressing with this lesson?
Where is a list of the materials that you will need for this lesson, e.g. pictures for board, video, etc?
Objectives: Students will be able to: - Hypothesize about what they think fitness means - Illustrate their thoughts on fitness - Predict what will happen in the video This objective is just a statement of what Ss will do. Please review our reading about writing objectives in Chiapetta & Koballa Ch 3. There is also a tutorial on writing objectives using Blooms Taxonomy on this page. - Consturct a “Main idea and Details” graphic organizer for information on how fitness and natural selection play a role in evolution. -Apply what they learned in class to the homework assignment given at the end of class.
See above.
Opening:
Me: "Today we will be talking about fitness. We will open with a quick brainstorming session and then transition to a video. We will also discuss the topic of natural selection after the video"
Me: "In your notebooks interpret in your own words what you think it means to be a 'fit' individual'.
Students: They will brainstorm ideas in their notebooks about what fitness means. They will share out their answers with the rest of the class.
Me: To facilitate the discussion I will ask questions such as:
"Does fitness have anything to do with size?
Does being fit mean being strong? Why or why not?"
What will you ask to facilitate the discussion?
Students rarely discuss among themselves because they generally rely on the teacher to provide cues regarding what information is useful. What will you say to provide an overview of the day's activities?
Explain learning goal for the day?
Body: The goal here is to address the misconception that being "fit" means being the individual who is bigger, faster, and stronger. The misconception will be addressed through the facilitated discussion and
Me: I will put up a projected image of two animals on the board. One is a cheetah and the other is a gazelle.
"Take a look at these two animals on the overhead. Which one do you think is more "fit" and why?"
Students: Provide ideas out loud about their idea of fitness and how it applies to the animals.
Me: "If the cheetah was chasing the gazelle for its lunch do you think the cheetah will catch the gazelle? Why or why not?"
Students: Share answers about their ideas.
Me: "We are now going to watch a video in which these two animals interact. Before I begin the video does anyone have any ideas of what they think will happen when the cheetah chases the gazelle?"
Me: "Were any of you surprised at the end of the video? Did the scene play out as you originally predicted? Why or Why not?" (The gazelle does get captured but decides to play dead. When the cheetah is distracted the gazelle runs away.)
Students: Share their reactions.
Me: "After seeing this video have your ideas about fitness changed? Why or Why not?"
Students: Share responses.
Transition to a natural selection power point and structured note taking session.
Me: "Now that we have discussed and viewed a video about fitness we will transition into taking some notes on fitness and natural selection, and the role that these two concepts play in evolution. We will be using the 'Main Idea & Details' graphic organizer. Take a look at yesterday's activity to see the template set up."
Students: Construct graphic organizer and take notes from power point.
You need to think this through. Which of the misconceptions listed here are you trying to address? Will you have them share (and explain) their predictions before showing the video? What do you want your students to understand? What questions will you ask to elicit their memories of the video and apply them to your target ideas? What will you ask to surface their beliefs that may be inconsistent with what "fit" means in terms of evolution? Is "being right or wrong" really what is important? You need to move beyond this to think about what they will understand. Will you show the powerpoint as well? If so, then you should include this as a bullet in your lesson plan.
Closing: Students will be asked to write 3 points about something new they learned today in class. They will be given a natural selection worksheet for homework to complete. If they took good notes they should be able to complete the homework without a problem. In addition to the worksheet for homework they should research two animals and interpret in their own words why they think those animals are "fit".
Nice way to wrap up the lesson. Why not followup with another pair of animals and ask them to describe their fitness?
Credit: Melissa Farrish
Overview:
I will open this lesson with a Daily Question.The question is “What is fitness? What does it mean to be a fit individual?” The body of the lesson will contain an image of a big and strong animal and a smaller, weaker looking animal. The misconception being addressed in this lesson is the idea that just because an individual is large and physically stronger does not necessarily mean that the individual is "fit" in terms of evolution. The students will discuss which one they think is more likely to survive in the population. A video and power point on fitness and natural selection will be shown. Students will take guided notes on these concepts and will be given a natural selection worksheet as an exit slip/homework.
What misconception are you addressing with this lesson?
Materials:
- video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlwzPIUtRPc
-Images:
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/004/cache/cheetah_492_600x450.jpg
http://www.awf.org/files/3827_file_thomsons_gazelle_balfour.jpg
Where is a list of the materials that you will need for this lesson, e.g. pictures for board, video, etc?
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- Hypothesize about what they think fitness means
- Illustrate their thoughts on fitness
- Predict what will happen in the video
This objective is just a statement of what Ss will do. Please review our reading about writing objectives in Chiapetta & Koballa Ch 3. There is also a tutorial on writing objectives using Blooms Taxonomy on this page.
- Consturct a “Main idea and Details” graphic organizer for information on how fitness and natural selection play a role in evolution.
-Apply what they learned in class to the homework assignment given at the end of class.
See above.
Opening:
Body:
The goal here is to address the misconception that being "fit" means being the individual who is bigger, faster, and stronger. The misconception will be addressed through the facilitated discussion and
- Me: I will put up a projected image of two animals on the board. One is a cheetah and the other is a gazelle.
- "Take a look at these two animals on the overhead. Which one do you think is more "fit" and why?"
- Students: Provide ideas out loud about their idea of fitness and how it applies to the animals.
- Me: "If the cheetah was chasing the gazelle for its lunch do you think the cheetah will catch the gazelle? Why or why not?"
- Students: Share answers about their ideas.
- Me: "We are now going to watch a video in which these two animals interact. Before I begin the video does anyone have any ideas of what they think will happen when the cheetah chases the gazelle?"
- Students: Share ideas
Entire class watches video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlwzPIUtRPc
- Me: "Were any of you surprised at the end of the video? Did the scene play out as you originally predicted? Why or Why not?" (The gazelle does get captured but decides to play dead. When the cheetah is distracted the gazelle runs away.)
- Students: Share their reactions.
- Me: "After seeing this video have your ideas about fitness changed? Why or Why not?"
- Students: Share responses.
Transition to a natural selection power point and structured note taking session.You need to think this through. Which of the misconceptions listed here are you trying to address?
Will you have them share (and explain) their predictions before showing the video?
What do you want your students to understand? What questions will you ask to elicit their memories of the video and apply them to your target ideas? What will you ask to surface their beliefs that may be inconsistent with what "fit" means in terms of evolution?
Is "being right or wrong" really what is important? You need to move beyond this to think about what they will understand.
Will you show the powerpoint as well? If so, then you should include this as a bullet in your lesson plan.
Closing:
Students will be asked to write 3 points about something new they learned today in class. They will be given a natural selection worksheet for homework to complete. If they took good notes they should be able to complete the homework without a problem. In addition to the worksheet for homework they should research two animals and interpret in their own words why they think those animals are "fit".
Nice way to wrap up the lesson. Why not followup with another pair of animals and ask them to describe their fitness?
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